Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I
did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory being a
factor.
On to the series three finals! First up in the champion's seat is arts and science student Jacob Davey, the number one seed. He had a high game score of 72, and Richard notes that Jacob's average score was 58.8 over his six games, so his cumulative total was 353 points. Jacob turned 19 just a little before these finals.
In the challenger's position is fine art teacher Tina Rose, the number eight seed. During her time on the show she solved four conundrums in a row, and on her first showing she also had a 72-point game.
The game went back and forth, with Jacob taking a good early lead in the first third only to see Tina battle back in the second third. Tina emerged a single point ahead at the second break, but an invalid numbers round from her saw Jacob just safe going into the conundrum. Neither solved it, and Jacob took the first semifinal spot with a 44 to 32 victory.
I was two rounds off optimal again, for a pretty good game overall. One of those missed optimal answers was a full monty that eluded David's eagle eye, so I'm not too put out over that. I solved the conundrum in decent time to run out comfortably ahead, and a good start to this finals series for me.
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Ep 200 [GF]: Tony Loui, Matthew Thomason (May 29, 2012; originally aired May 6, 2011)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I
did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a
factor.
It was a very close game tonight, as is fitting for a grand final. Matthew took the early lead when Tony had a surprising stumble in the first round; then they matched each other in the next six rounds. On the final numbers round Tony saw his way to a solution to snatch the lead, but it was still either contestant's game to win on the conundrum. Tony got there first, just under six seconds in, and became the second series champion with a 64 to 51 victory.
I was in good form tonight, and while there's the issue of possible foreknowledge that only seems plausible to apply to the conundrum. I did solve it very quickly this time, but I don't recall it from before, so I'm not sure how much last year's viewing is a factor. In any case, with only one round less than optimal, I ended up with a comfortable victory.
It was a very close game tonight, as is fitting for a grand final. Matthew took the early lead when Tony had a surprising stumble in the first round; then they matched each other in the next six rounds. On the final numbers round Tony saw his way to a solution to snatch the lead, but it was still either contestant's game to win on the conundrum. Tony got there first, just under six seconds in, and became the second series champion with a 64 to 51 victory.
I was in good form tonight, and while there's the issue of possible foreknowledge that only seems plausible to apply to the conundrum. I did solve it very quickly this time, but I don't recall it from before, so I'm not sure how much last year's viewing is a factor. In any case, with only one round less than optimal, I ended up with a comfortable victory.
Ep 199 [SF2]: Tamara McMahon, Matthew Thomason (May 28, 2012; originally aired May 5, 2011)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I
did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a
factor.
Nothing much to the pre-game chat, as expected. The game started out well for Matthew, who found an eight in the first round to beat Tamara's seven, and then Tamara risked too much in the next round. That put Matthew 14 points ahead, and several flat rounds followed. Tamara finally gained back some ground on the last letters round to get back within striking distance at last, but then immediately conceded that gain on the last numbers round. Matthew was safe going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it he got through to the grand final with a 53 to 39 win.
I was in decent shape for the first two thirds of the match; although I did not always have the best answers in the letters, I had the best that it was feasible for me to do. But then I faltered somewhat, with a last letters round where I was well off the pace (and beaten by both contestants, who had excellent words); that was followed by a numbers round where I only just got the answer down in time. Fortunately I solved the conundrum in middling time to finish on a good note. Plus I found the full monty today, which is always good.
Nothing much to the pre-game chat, as expected. The game started out well for Matthew, who found an eight in the first round to beat Tamara's seven, and then Tamara risked too much in the next round. That put Matthew 14 points ahead, and several flat rounds followed. Tamara finally gained back some ground on the last letters round to get back within striking distance at last, but then immediately conceded that gain on the last numbers round. Matthew was safe going into the conundrum, and with neither solving it he got through to the grand final with a 53 to 39 win.
I was in decent shape for the first two thirds of the match; although I did not always have the best answers in the letters, I had the best that it was feasible for me to do. But then I faltered somewhat, with a last letters round where I was well off the pace (and beaten by both contestants, who had excellent words); that was followed by a numbers round where I only just got the answer down in time. Fortunately I solved the conundrum in middling time to finish on a good note. Plus I found the full monty today, which is always good.
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Weekly summary: Episodes 194 to 198
I started off relatively poorly -- perhaps hangover from whatever last week's issue was? -- but picked up markedly after that, with an optimal game on Tuesday (albeit blemished by a very slow solution to the conundrum). It is possible that some of this is attributible to having seen the episodes before, but I'd only expect that to help with conundrums, which it does not really seem to have done (judging by how long it has taken me to solve them).
Two full monties this week, with none missed. The numbers provided a few tricky challenges, but Lily was equal to them all. For that matter, David found all the best results, too -- I don't make mention of that nearly enough.
Against the usual run of form, Monday was the only poor day here. That included the invalid attempt at DENOTERS, although it would not have been a maximum if it had been valid. The rate of conundrum solution has been good, but they have all been fairly slow.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 46 | 76 | 64 | 67 | 83 |
| Champion | 46 | 28 | 8 | 38 | 52 |
| Challenger | 29 | 21 | 27 | 29 | 36 |
| David + Lily | 87 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 86 |
| Me (solo) | 61 | 76 | 64 | 73 | 83 |
Two full monties this week, with none missed. The numbers provided a few tricky challenges, but Lily was equal to them all. For that matter, David found all the best results, too -- I don't make mention of that nearly enough.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Missed Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Tough Numbers | 0 | |||||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
Against the usual run of form, Monday was the only poor day here. That included the invalid attempt at DENOTERS, although it would not have been a maximum if it had been valid. The rate of conundrum solution has been good, but they have all been fairly slow.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximums: L | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| N | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| C | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Invalid: L | 1 | - | - | - | - |
Ep 198 [SF1]: Tony Loui, Oli Bryant (May 25, 2012; originally aired May 4, 2011)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I
did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a
factor.
There's little more to be learned about the contestants; Richard mentions that Tony found two nine-letter words during his time on the show, and that Oli had a combined score of 318 from his six main games.
There was some good play from both contestants again tonight, including them each finding the full monty. The letters rounds went in Tony's favour -- Oli had three five-letter words, which is rarely a good sign -- and there was a bit each way in the numbers which also advantaged Tony. But Oli had done just enough to have a chance, going into the conundrum nine points behind. In the end Tony was the one who solved it, and his 67 to 48 win put him into the final.
I found good answers again tonight, including a risky play that worked out for unexpected reasons. In the main rounds the only bobble was that I ended up one-away on the tough last numbers round, but everything else was optimal. I had troubles with the conundrum again, almost buzzing in with a wrong answer and catching myself in time. I finally saw the answer and buzzed in first, then unpaused to see Tony buzz a tiny fraction of a second later. A close one!
There's little more to be learned about the contestants; Richard mentions that Tony found two nine-letter words during his time on the show, and that Oli had a combined score of 318 from his six main games.
There was some good play from both contestants again tonight, including them each finding the full monty. The letters rounds went in Tony's favour -- Oli had three five-letter words, which is rarely a good sign -- and there was a bit each way in the numbers which also advantaged Tony. But Oli had done just enough to have a chance, going into the conundrum nine points behind. In the end Tony was the one who solved it, and his 67 to 48 win put him into the final.
I found good answers again tonight, including a risky play that worked out for unexpected reasons. In the main rounds the only bobble was that I ended up one-away on the tough last numbers round, but everything else was optimal. I had troubles with the conundrum again, almost buzzing in with a wrong answer and catching myself in time. I finally saw the answer and buzzed in first, then unpaused to see Tony buzz a tiny fraction of a second later. A close one!
Friday, 25 May 2012
Ep 197 [QF4]: Matthew Thomason, Victor Tung (May 24, 2012; originally aired May 3, 2011)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I
did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a
factor.
This is the last quarterfinal of series two; in the champion's seat is fourth seed Matthew Thomason, a professional TV writer and director. He was undefeated during the main part of the series, and solved four of the six conundrums that he encountered.
Facing him in the challenger's position is fifth seed Victor Tung. Victor is a fire safety engineer, and solved two of his six conundrums.
There was not that much to choose between the contestants, as it turned out. Five of the main rounds were equally split; Matthew solved one numbers round that Victor did not, and they each scored unanswered points in one letters round. Crucially, Victor had the longer word in that exchange and so ended up trailing but still in with a chance going into the conundrum. However, it proved to be too difficult for both of them, and Matthew took the last semifinal spot with a 52 to 43 victory.
I had two rounds that I'd have liked to have done better on, but the other main rounds were optimal. One of them was a play that I was quite unsure about, so I'm very pleased with it working out OK. I was very slow on the conundrum but I got there with a little time left on the clock, and what ended up being a significant winning margin after all.
This is the last quarterfinal of series two; in the champion's seat is fourth seed Matthew Thomason, a professional TV writer and director. He was undefeated during the main part of the series, and solved four of the six conundrums that he encountered.
Facing him in the challenger's position is fifth seed Victor Tung. Victor is a fire safety engineer, and solved two of his six conundrums.
There was not that much to choose between the contestants, as it turned out. Five of the main rounds were equally split; Matthew solved one numbers round that Victor did not, and they each scored unanswered points in one letters round. Crucially, Victor had the longer word in that exchange and so ended up trailing but still in with a chance going into the conundrum. However, it proved to be too difficult for both of them, and Matthew took the last semifinal spot with a 52 to 43 victory.
I had two rounds that I'd have liked to have done better on, but the other main rounds were optimal. One of them was a play that I was quite unsure about, so I'm very pleased with it working out OK. I was very slow on the conundrum but I got there with a little time left on the clock, and what ended up being a significant winning margin after all.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Ep 196 [QF3]: Barry Harridge, Oli Bryant (May 23, 2012; originally aired May 2, 2011)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I
did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a
factor.
Taking the champion's seat in this third quarterfinal is retired mathematics teacher Barry Harridge, the third seed. Richard notes that in Barry's first episode he solved all three of the numbers rounds and found a nine-letter word. Barry does not remember that part so much as having done some silly things in later games.
In the challenger's seat is sixth seed Oli Bryant, a sustainability consultant. Oli solved four of the six conundrums during his time on the show.
There were some good results from each, and a lot of adjustments to the relative difference in scores as only the last numbers round yielded shared points. Barry had the better of the letters, helped along by a good eight-letter word in the second round and a couple of invalid offerings from Oli; on the other hand, Barry also had an invalid word in one round and could not match Oli's seven-letter word in the first round. The net result from the letters was seven points to Barry, but he conceded seventeen points to Oli in the numbers and trailed by precisely ten points going into the conundrum. That could have led to a tiebreaker conundrum, but Oli was the first to solve it, sealing the win by 47 points to 27.
I did fairly well, finding best results on the letters rounds, although not always the most common ones. I bobbled slightly on the second numbers round, and failed to solve the conundrum within time, but otherwise had optimal results and a fairly solid win.
Taking the champion's seat in this third quarterfinal is retired mathematics teacher Barry Harridge, the third seed. Richard notes that in Barry's first episode he solved all three of the numbers rounds and found a nine-letter word. Barry does not remember that part so much as having done some silly things in later games.
In the challenger's seat is sixth seed Oli Bryant, a sustainability consultant. Oli solved four of the six conundrums during his time on the show.
There were some good results from each, and a lot of adjustments to the relative difference in scores as only the last numbers round yielded shared points. Barry had the better of the letters, helped along by a good eight-letter word in the second round and a couple of invalid offerings from Oli; on the other hand, Barry also had an invalid word in one round and could not match Oli's seven-letter word in the first round. The net result from the letters was seven points to Barry, but he conceded seventeen points to Oli in the numbers and trailed by precisely ten points going into the conundrum. That could have led to a tiebreaker conundrum, but Oli was the first to solve it, sealing the win by 47 points to 27.
I did fairly well, finding best results on the letters rounds, although not always the most common ones. I bobbled slightly on the second numbers round, and failed to solve the conundrum within time, but otherwise had optimal results and a fairly solid win.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Ep 195 [QF2]: Tamara McMahon, Richard Hartley (May 22, 2012; originally aired April 29, 2011)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired, and although I did not recall any of it I cannot rule out memory somehow being a factor.
Taking the champion's position is second seed Tamara McMahon, a project manager and professional tennis umpire. Tamara successfully retired with a total score of 335 points. Richard makes note of two good word finds from her in the main games: DURATIONS and MATRICES.
In the challenger's position is seventh seed Richard Hartley, a planetary science student. His total over six games was 282 points, so it looks like this series had slightly more people get to a sixth game than the first one (or the fourth, for that matter). Richard (Morecroft) mentions Richard (Hartley) finding BONNIEST during his main games.
It was a night of fairly flat letters rounds, with relatively straightforward sevens in most rounds and little longer on offer. The first round was a touch trickier, but Tamara found the seven-letter word there to gain the advantage. Richard miscalculated (literally) in the first numbers round to let Tamara extend that lead, but gained it back in the final numbers round. The conundrum mattered, but neither was able to solve it; Tamara's first round word secured her the win, 42 to 35.
I was back in form tonight, although as I've already noted the letters rounds were quite flat and there was little room to shine. The second numbers round was a ratpack that merited a little care, but otherwise optimal results were easy enough to come by in most rounds. I found the conundrum quite tough going, as expected from a finals game, but found the solution with three seconds left on the clock. That gave me my second optimal game, although the slowness of the conundrum solve is a negative feature. Still, it was nice to get good results after some of my recent poor finals form.
Taking the champion's position is second seed Tamara McMahon, a project manager and professional tennis umpire. Tamara successfully retired with a total score of 335 points. Richard makes note of two good word finds from her in the main games: DURATIONS and MATRICES.
In the challenger's position is seventh seed Richard Hartley, a planetary science student. His total over six games was 282 points, so it looks like this series had slightly more people get to a sixth game than the first one (or the fourth, for that matter). Richard (Morecroft) mentions Richard (Hartley) finding BONNIEST during his main games.
It was a night of fairly flat letters rounds, with relatively straightforward sevens in most rounds and little longer on offer. The first round was a touch trickier, but Tamara found the seven-letter word there to gain the advantage. Richard miscalculated (literally) in the first numbers round to let Tamara extend that lead, but gained it back in the final numbers round. The conundrum mattered, but neither was able to solve it; Tamara's first round word secured her the win, 42 to 35.
I was back in form tonight, although as I've already noted the letters rounds were quite flat and there was little room to shine. The second numbers round was a ratpack that merited a little care, but otherwise optimal results were easy enough to come by in most rounds. I found the conundrum quite tough going, as expected from a finals game, but found the solution with three seconds left on the clock. That gave me my second optimal game, although the slowness of the conundrum solve is a negative feature. Still, it was nice to get good results after some of my recent poor finals form.
Ep 194 [QF1]: Tony Loui, Jack Dell (May 21, 2012; originally aired April 28, 2011)
Disclaimer: I watched this episode when it first aired. I recall nothing about it, as should be obvious from my results, but I cannot rule out some lingering memory assisting me in some fashion.
So, onto the season two finals. Taking the champion's position is medical officer Tony Loui, the number one seed. Richard notes that Tony was undefeated, and had the highest accumulated score of anyone in series two. That's... pretty much expected from the first seed, so nothing new about this.
Tony's opponent is eighth seed Jack Dell, described by Richard as a jack of all trades; he is a school groundsman, computer technician, and teacher. Jack solved three of the five conundrums that he faced during the main part of the series.
Jack got off to a flying start with a full monty in the second round. That was the only round he managed to outdo Tony in, though, and Tony pegged the loss back over the next two rounds. The remaining letters rounds provided no swing but Tony took a 17 point lead into the conundrum thanks to the remaining numbers rounds, where Jack just did not seem comfortable. Neither was able to solve the conundrum, and Tony got through to the next round with a 53 to 36 victory.
I was all over the place tonight, with two very poor rounds where I only managed a four-letter word. I missed the full monty, and in fact the eight-letter word I had for that round was invalid. The second numbers round offered me a chance to almost catch up but instead I drifted even further behind. A good word in the last letters round put me precisely ten points behind Tony, and I managed to solve the conundrum (although slower than I would have liked) to salvage a draw from this performance.
So, onto the season two finals. Taking the champion's position is medical officer Tony Loui, the number one seed. Richard notes that Tony was undefeated, and had the highest accumulated score of anyone in series two. That's... pretty much expected from the first seed, so nothing new about this.
Tony's opponent is eighth seed Jack Dell, described by Richard as a jack of all trades; he is a school groundsman, computer technician, and teacher. Jack solved three of the five conundrums that he faced during the main part of the series.
Jack got off to a flying start with a full monty in the second round. That was the only round he managed to outdo Tony in, though, and Tony pegged the loss back over the next two rounds. The remaining letters rounds provided no swing but Tony took a 17 point lead into the conundrum thanks to the remaining numbers rounds, where Jack just did not seem comfortable. Neither was able to solve the conundrum, and Tony got through to the next round with a 53 to 36 victory.
I was all over the place tonight, with two very poor rounds where I only managed a four-letter word. I missed the full monty, and in fact the eight-letter word I had for that round was invalid. The second numbers round offered me a chance to almost catch up but instead I drifted even further behind. A good word in the last letters round put me precisely ten points behind Tony, and I managed to solve the conundrum (although slower than I would have liked) to salvage a draw from this performance.
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Weekly summary: Episodes 96 to 100
The first two games of the week went well, but then my performance trailed off rather badly. It is probably no coincidence that those first two games were the ones without Andrew or Naween in them -- it is possible that I am a confidence player. On the other hand, in the two semifinal games I was just one round short of winning, having missed some answers that I would normally expect to get. The grand final, however, I was comprehensively beaten in.
No potential full monties at all this week, and the numbers only threw in a small stumbling block once.
The maximums pretty much highlight the decline in performance after the first two games, with Thursday being noticeably bad.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 57 | 60 | 39 | 44 | 43 |
| Champion | 47 | 28 | 50 | 48 | 68 |
| Challenger | 37 | 28 | 41 | 39 | 52 |
| David + Lily | 76 | 78 | 70 | 76 | 78 |
| Me (solo) | 63 | 67 | 51 | 72 | 62 |
No potential full monties at all this week, and the numbers only threw in a small stumbling block once.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Missed Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
The maximums pretty much highlight the decline in performance after the first two games, with Thursday being noticeably bad.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximums: L | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| N | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Ep 100 [GF]: Andrew Fisher, Naween Fernando (May 18, 2012; originally aired December 17, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: Although I have not seen this episode before, I was aware of the winner before viewing it. It seems unlikely that this would affect my results, but I was not completely a blank slate. Additionally, I have apparently encountered the conundrum before which raises the possibility that I have also been exposed to the other rounds, although I did not recall them if so.
The grand final of series one is here at last. There's nothing of significance to the pre-game chat, and we get straight into things. As was expected, both contestants were in great form on the letters, with Andrew finding the best answer in each case and Naween only slightly off the pace due to invalid words. The first two numbers rounds were rather uninteresting, but Naween complicated things in the final one and was rewarded when he found his way to the solution and Andrew did not. That let him make up some ground, and the game was alive going into the conundrum. As expected, Andrew solved it extremely quickly to record a 68 to 52 victory and become the series champion.
I... gah. Well, looked at objectively I actually did pretty well in the letters; it is just that I could have done better. I did find the best results for the maxima I missed after time, in one case fairly quickly while the other took minutes. But I flubbed the final numbers round and that always bothers me. That was the difference between finishing second or third, and indeed on having a theoretical chance at all going into the conundrum. A decent game with a major error, and against opposition like this that can end up feeling like a poor game. All credit to Andrew and Naween, who certainly deserve their accolades as the best of series one.
Disclaimer: Although I have not seen this episode before, I was aware of the winner before viewing it. It seems unlikely that this would affect my results, but I was not completely a blank slate. Additionally, I have apparently encountered the conundrum before which raises the possibility that I have also been exposed to the other rounds, although I did not recall them if so.
The grand final of series one is here at last. There's nothing of significance to the pre-game chat, and we get straight into things. As was expected, both contestants were in great form on the letters, with Andrew finding the best answer in each case and Naween only slightly off the pace due to invalid words. The first two numbers rounds were rather uninteresting, but Naween complicated things in the final one and was rewarded when he found his way to the solution and Andrew did not. That let him make up some ground, and the game was alive going into the conundrum. As expected, Andrew solved it extremely quickly to record a 68 to 52 victory and become the series champion.
I... gah. Well, looked at objectively I actually did pretty well in the letters; it is just that I could have done better. I did find the best results for the maxima I missed after time, in one case fairly quickly while the other took minutes. But I flubbed the final numbers round and that always bothers me. That was the difference between finishing second or third, and indeed on having a theoretical chance at all going into the conundrum. A decent game with a major error, and against opposition like this that can end up feeling like a poor game. All credit to Andrew and Naween, who certainly deserve their accolades as the best of series one.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Ep 99 [SF2]: Naween Fernando, Dom Saric (May 17, 2012; originally aired December 16, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
The pre-game chat rehashes some more past performance statistics. Naween has a high score of 94, and over the course of his main games found ten eight-letter words (and two nine-letter ones). Dom has solved four conundrums.
It turned out to be an extremely close game; they each declared an invalid word, and otherwise were matched in the main rounds. Dom took a single point lead into the conundrum, but no-one expected it to go unsolved so that was not much of a factor. Dom missed his chance to wrap up the game in the final numbers round and Naween came good to solve the conundrum a little shy of eight seconds in; he must have been relieved to win by 62 points to 53.
I am very frustrated with my performance on the letters rounds today, missing at least three better answers that I would have found easily on a better day. In fact, I did find one of them, but talked myself out of it. My numbers performance was good, but there's only so much poor wordwork that it can compensate for. In the end I managed to take a lead into the conundrum but was not fast enough to solve it before Naween did (as expected), but at least I only lost to one of the contestants tonight. This could so easily have gone much better, and I hope that I can sort out whatever my issue is before tomorrow's grand final.
The pre-game chat rehashes some more past performance statistics. Naween has a high score of 94, and over the course of his main games found ten eight-letter words (and two nine-letter ones). Dom has solved four conundrums.
It turned out to be an extremely close game; they each declared an invalid word, and otherwise were matched in the main rounds. Dom took a single point lead into the conundrum, but no-one expected it to go unsolved so that was not much of a factor. Dom missed his chance to wrap up the game in the final numbers round and Naween came good to solve the conundrum a little shy of eight seconds in; he must have been relieved to win by 62 points to 53.
I am very frustrated with my performance on the letters rounds today, missing at least three better answers that I would have found easily on a better day. In fact, I did find one of them, but talked myself out of it. My numbers performance was good, but there's only so much poor wordwork that it can compensate for. In the end I managed to take a lead into the conundrum but was not fast enough to solve it before Naween did (as expected), but at least I only lost to one of the contestants tonight. This could so easily have gone much better, and I hope that I can sort out whatever my issue is before tomorrow's grand final.
Ep 98 [SF1]: Andrew Fisher, David Jones (May 16, 2012; originally aired December 15, 20120)
Rounds: Here.
It's the first semifinal tonight, between first seed Andrew Fisher and third seed David Jones. The pre-game chat is a little more revisiting of prior achievements on the show, but nothing particularly noteworthy. Once again I will be using surname initials to distinguish the two Davids.
It could have been a very close game, but the damage was done early. Andrew found two longer words to start with in fairly difficult mixes. Then David J was not able to get within range in the first numbers round, conceding seven more points to Andrew who then had a 19 point lead. The rest of the main rounds they were evenly matched on -- although Andrew only just got down his answer for round four -- and David J missed his chance in the final numbers round, matching Andrew's one-away answer to give Andrew the win. The conundrum was tough again, and David J solved it first -- possibly the only contestant to beat Andrew to a conundrum solution -- but Andrew still won by 57 points to 48.
I started off quite well, matching Andrew in those two tough letters rounds. Then I had a complete meltdown in round 3; there is a fairly easy one-away but I got tangled up trying to reach the target exactly and did not get it down. In the end that round was the difference between victory and defeat, and I'm quite disappointed to have blown this on a numbers round like that. As usual, the conundrum was too hard for me also, and in the end I was defeated by both contestants.
It's the first semifinal tonight, between first seed Andrew Fisher and third seed David Jones. The pre-game chat is a little more revisiting of prior achievements on the show, but nothing particularly noteworthy. Once again I will be using surname initials to distinguish the two Davids.
It could have been a very close game, but the damage was done early. Andrew found two longer words to start with in fairly difficult mixes. Then David J was not able to get within range in the first numbers round, conceding seven more points to Andrew who then had a 19 point lead. The rest of the main rounds they were evenly matched on -- although Andrew only just got down his answer for round four -- and David J missed his chance in the final numbers round, matching Andrew's one-away answer to give Andrew the win. The conundrum was tough again, and David J solved it first -- possibly the only contestant to beat Andrew to a conundrum solution -- but Andrew still won by 57 points to 48.
I started off quite well, matching Andrew in those two tough letters rounds. Then I had a complete meltdown in round 3; there is a fairly easy one-away but I got tangled up trying to reach the target exactly and did not get it down. In the end that round was the difference between victory and defeat, and I'm quite disappointed to have blown this on a numbers round like that. As usual, the conundrum was too hard for me also, and in the end I was defeated by both contestants.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Ep 97 [QF4]: Liam Bastick, Dom Saric (May 15, 2012; originally aired December 14, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
This is the last quarterfinal of series one, and it is interesting to see the other contenders. I recall Liam from website comments; he's kept statistics about the episodes from the beginning, it seems, and occasionally mentions an interesting snippet there.
So, taking the champion's position is fourth seed Liam Bastick, a financial modeller with a PhD in mathematics. He won his six games and successfully retired. Richard mentions that on one episode Liam did something "unforgettable". Liam explains that he elected to celebrate the fiftieth episode in style; he had no idea about the conundrum but decided to press the buzzer at the 29.5 second mark. A kind of reverse-GANDISEEG gambit, if you will.
A little later in the show it is mentioned that Liam scored points on 17 out of the 18 numbers rounds that he faced, which is an excellent record.
In the challenger's position is fifth seed Dom Saric, who is currently undertaking a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery. Richard says that in the television control room Dom was affectionately known as Dom the Dominator. The other thing Richard notes is that Dom found a lot of medical words; mention is made of TRIAGE, PRONATE, AMPOULE, and PARANOID.
Dom had some good finds in the letters, and Liam fell off the pace somewhat. After the fifth round he was in deep trouble twenty points off the pace, and a miss in the next numbers round put him thirty points adrift. That meant that he needed a full monty to have a chance; the letters were almost, but not quite, cooperative, and that was the game to Dom. Liam picked up some points in the last numbers round and, had he solved the conundrum, would have only lost by two points. But the conundrum proved too difficult for both contestants again, and Dom wins by 46 to 34.
I hit the top notes right until that last letters round, where I was about twenty seconds too slow to see the best answer. I'd have taken even an optimal opponent to the conundrum, but it also defeated me; still, I had done enough for a comfortable win in this instance.
This is the last quarterfinal of series one, and it is interesting to see the other contenders. I recall Liam from website comments; he's kept statistics about the episodes from the beginning, it seems, and occasionally mentions an interesting snippet there.
So, taking the champion's position is fourth seed Liam Bastick, a financial modeller with a PhD in mathematics. He won his six games and successfully retired. Richard mentions that on one episode Liam did something "unforgettable". Liam explains that he elected to celebrate the fiftieth episode in style; he had no idea about the conundrum but decided to press the buzzer at the 29.5 second mark. A kind of reverse-GANDISEEG gambit, if you will.
A little later in the show it is mentioned that Liam scored points on 17 out of the 18 numbers rounds that he faced, which is an excellent record.
In the challenger's position is fifth seed Dom Saric, who is currently undertaking a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery. Richard says that in the television control room Dom was affectionately known as Dom the Dominator. The other thing Richard notes is that Dom found a lot of medical words; mention is made of TRIAGE, PRONATE, AMPOULE, and PARANOID.
Dom had some good finds in the letters, and Liam fell off the pace somewhat. After the fifth round he was in deep trouble twenty points off the pace, and a miss in the next numbers round put him thirty points adrift. That meant that he needed a full monty to have a chance; the letters were almost, but not quite, cooperative, and that was the game to Dom. Liam picked up some points in the last numbers round and, had he solved the conundrum, would have only lost by two points. But the conundrum proved too difficult for both contestants again, and Dom wins by 46 to 34.
I hit the top notes right until that last letters round, where I was about twenty seconds too slow to see the best answer. I'd have taken even an optimal opponent to the conundrum, but it also defeated me; still, I had done enough for a comfortable win in this instance.
Monday, 14 May 2012
Ep 96 [QF3]: David Jones, Kashi Ross (May 14, 2012; originally aired December 13, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
We're back after the weekend with the third quarterfinal from series one; the box giving the original airdate is back, but they've got the correct date this time. So that's good.
In the champion's position is third seed David Jones, a public servant who successfully retired undefeated during the main part of the series. Richard asks about David's memories of his earlier games, and in particular the first one. David says that in the very first round he saw an eight-letter word just before the clock finished and that was enough to settle him down.
Taking up the challenger's seat as sixth seed is teacher Kashi Ross. Kashi was carryover champion for five episodes, so it sounds like she lost the sixth game. Richard asks about her memories too, and it seems that they were mostly of the errors that she made (using letters or numbers twice, etc.).
Both contestants found some good words, and honours were even from the letters rounds. But Kashi seemed to be particularly weak on the numbers, not managing to get close to some very achievable targets. That let David get a seventeen point lead that he carried into the conundrum; neither could solve it, and so David won 54 to 37. He will be back on Wednesday to face Andrew in the quarterfinal.
I started off with a very bad effort in the first round; that put me on the back foot, and easy numbers rounds made catching up difficult. David faltered in the fourth round to let me equalise, and I managed to outdo him on a numbers round to get ten points ahead. That was where things stood at the conundrum which raised the possibility of a tie, but with no-one solving it -- it was too hard for me to get within time also -- I scraped home with that ten-point win.
With two David's to worry about the potential for confusion arises, so I'll be using surname initials to clarify.
We're back after the weekend with the third quarterfinal from series one; the box giving the original airdate is back, but they've got the correct date this time. So that's good.
In the champion's position is third seed David Jones, a public servant who successfully retired undefeated during the main part of the series. Richard asks about David's memories of his earlier games, and in particular the first one. David says that in the very first round he saw an eight-letter word just before the clock finished and that was enough to settle him down.
Taking up the challenger's seat as sixth seed is teacher Kashi Ross. Kashi was carryover champion for five episodes, so it sounds like she lost the sixth game. Richard asks about her memories too, and it seems that they were mostly of the errors that she made (using letters or numbers twice, etc.).
Both contestants found some good words, and honours were even from the letters rounds. But Kashi seemed to be particularly weak on the numbers, not managing to get close to some very achievable targets. That let David get a seventeen point lead that he carried into the conundrum; neither could solve it, and so David won 54 to 37. He will be back on Wednesday to face Andrew in the quarterfinal.
I started off with a very bad effort in the first round; that put me on the back foot, and easy numbers rounds made catching up difficult. David faltered in the fourth round to let me equalise, and I managed to outdo him on a numbers round to get ten points ahead. That was where things stood at the conundrum which raised the possibility of a tie, but with no-one solving it -- it was too hard for me to get within time also -- I scraped home with that ten-point win.
With two David's to worry about the potential for confusion arises, so I'll be using surname initials to clarify.
Weekly Summary: Episodes 441 to 443, 94 to 95
The interruption to the normal schedule complicates my usual arrangement; I may end up including a later pseudo-week for episodes 441 to 445 once the remaining two episodes air.
The regular episodes went reasonably well, but the difference in my performance in finals episodes shows up clearly -- although the gaps between my performance and the David and Lily combination in the last three games can be put down almost entirely to missed nine-letter words by me (full monties or conundrums). I ended up with a surprising win on Thursday, but blew my chances for similar fortune on Friday. On the plus side I found a full monty on Tuesday; against that I missed four others this week, and they were all findable (although the two on Friday were tough).
Rob won his fifth game before the finals interruption; he'll be back in a few months aiming for that sixth win and a probable second place in the rankings. His performance knocked Margaret Zimmer out of contention, leaving Ian Phillips as the sole remaining three-gamer on the list.
Two full monties were on offer in the regular games, and I found the harder one but missed the easier one; I also missed the three ones available during the finals episodes. In two cases I was only a few seconds off the pace, but it is still frustrating how poorly I end up doing on nine-letter words. Monday served up some tricky number mixes, the last of which also eluded Lily. Thursday served up an impossible target where even getting close was a good result, and Friday ended things on an easy note, at least numerically.
Things were going well during the middle of the week, with a couple of good games back to back. Then the finals hit and my performance dropped noticeably. That's disappointing, but I guess I am letting the finalists' reputations get to me.
Contestants sorted by average score:
The regular episodes went reasonably well, but the difference in my performance in finals episodes shows up clearly -- although the gaps between my performance and the David and Lily combination in the last three games can be put down almost entirely to missed nine-letter words by me (full monties or conundrums). I ended up with a surprising win on Thursday, but blew my chances for similar fortune on Friday. On the plus side I found a full monty on Tuesday; against that I missed four others this week, and they were all findable (although the two on Friday were tough).
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 57 | 86 | 70 | 47 | 50 |
| Champion | 25 | 33 | 62 | 43 | 68 |
| Challenger | 24 | 38 | 30 | 38 | 13 |
| David + Lily | 76 | 87 | 88 | 79 | 97 |
| Me (solo) | 70 | 86 | 77 | 55 | 64 |
Rob won his fifth game before the finals interruption; he'll be back in a few months aiming for that sixth win and a probable second place in the rankings. His performance knocked Margaret Zimmer out of contention, leaving Ian Phillips as the sole remaining three-gamer on the list.
| Norm Do | 67 | 62 | 58 | 61 | 59 | 62 | 369 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Walton | 65 | 47 | 49 | 47 | 45 | 55 | 308 |
| Ann Russell | 40 | 48 | 46 | 62 | 49 | 47 | 292 |
| Ben Fisher | 55 | 53 | 63 | 42 | 60 | 21 | 294 |
| Rob Fischer* | 61 | 44 | 45 | 56 | 75 | 281 | |
| Jane Taylor | 47 | 54 | 64 | 40 | 205 | ||
| Mark Potter | 41 | 51 | 51 | 40 | 183 | ||
| Ian Phillips | 57 | 59 | 49 | 165 |
Two full monties were on offer in the regular games, and I found the harder one but missed the easier one; I also missed the three ones available during the finals episodes. In two cases I was only a few seconds off the pace, but it is still frustrating how poorly I end up doing on nine-letter words. Monday served up some tricky number mixes, the last of which also eluded Lily. Thursday served up an impossible target where even getting close was a good result, and Friday ended things on an easy note, at least numerically.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| Missed Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Impossible Numbers | 1 | 1 |
Things were going well during the middle of the week, with a couple of good games back to back. Then the finals hit and my performance dropped noticeably. That's disappointing, but I guess I am letting the finalists' reputations get to me.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximums: L | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| N | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Contestants sorted by average score:
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norm Do | 369 | 6 | 61.50 |
| Rob Fischer* | 281 | 5 | 56.20 |
| Ian Phillips | 165 | 3 | 55.00 |
| Simon Walton | 308 | 6 | 51.33 |
| Jane Taylor | 205 | 4 | 51.25 |
| Louise Broadbent | 99 | 2 | 49.50 |
| Ben Fisher | 294 | 6 | 49.00 |
| Ann Russell | 292 | 6 | 48.67 |
| Mark Potter | 183 | 4 | 45.75 |
| Paul Bishard | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Diana Greenslade | 43 | 1 | 43.00 |
| Mark O'Carrigan | 43 | 1 | 43.00 |
| Margaret Zimmer | 127 | 3 | 42.67 |
| Craig Hill | 85 | 2 | 42.50 |
| Jean Watson | 42 | 1 | 42.00 |
| Steve Hibbert | 83 | 2 | 41.50 |
| Andrea Boyd | 40 | 1 | 40.00 |
| Gavin Griffith | 40 | 1 | 40.00 |
| Carey McManus | 76 | 2 | 38.00 |
| Neil Croft | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Mark Niciejewski | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Steve Malcolm | 71 | 2 | 35.50 |
| James Cooper | 35 | 1 | 35.00 |
| Philip Scambler | 35 | 1 | 35.00 |
| Andrew Boyden | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Donald Piggott-McKellar | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Lara Irvine | 31 | 1 | 31.00 |
| Peter Ghalayini | 30 | 1 | 30.00 |
| Joseph Liebhaber | 30 | 1 | 30.00 |
| Scott Morrow | 30 | 1 | 30.00 |
| Jack Maloney | 29 | 1 | 29.00 |
| Mathew Thomas | 57 | 2 | 28.50 |
| Brent Dalton | 26 | 1 | 26.00 |
| Marc Lissner | 26 | 1 | 26.00 |
| Ian Wanless | 26 | 1 | 26.00 |
| Zaid Abbas | 24 | 1 | 24.00 |
| Bonnie McAllister | 23 | 1 | 23.00 |
| Kylie Alexander | 21 | 1 | 21.00 |
| Nic Brown | 21 | 1 | 21.00 |
| Susan Morrison | 21 | 1 | 21.00 |
| Cassie Palmer | 20 | 1 | 20.00 |
| John Morris | 16 | 1 | 16.00 |
| Casey Duggan | 13 | 1 | 13.00 |
| Andrew Fischer | 10 | 1 | 10.00 |
| Vishal Gandhi | 10 | 1 | 10.00 |
| Patrick Johns | 10 | 1 | 10.00 |
| Hans Pieterse | 6 | 1 | 6.00 |
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Ep 95 [QF2]: Naween Fernando, Veronica Corrigan (May 11, 2012; originally aired December 10, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
No mention of the original airdate this time; maybe someone caught the error. Tonight is the second quarterfinal of series one and pits second seed Naween Fernando against seventh seed Veronica Corrigan. Naween has a reputation essentially equal to that of Andrew Fisher from my perspective; I gather that they have been rivals for some time. So again I am in a position of hoping for the same things I wanted from the previous game: Challenging numbers rounds, and perhaps some overreaching on the word front. Last night I got lucky; can it happen again?
Richard introduces accountant Naween Fernando as the second seed for the finals series. Richard points out that Naween successfully retired after winning six games, and that in one particular game Naween scored three eight-letter words and two nine-letter ones. Wow! Throw in the conundrum and perfect numbers results and that would be a hundred point game.
Taking up the challenge is seventh seed Veronica Corrigan, a third year medical student. Veronica won her first game by a single point and then "went on to win convincingly over the next three nights". That sounds like she got to play five games, so the first series seems to have similar results to the fourth one on that front.
In contrast to yesterday's tight game this one was a very one-sided affair. Naween was never outpointed on the letters (and found a full monty early to take a commanding lead), and Veronica was consistently further away on the numbers. Naween had wrapped up the victory by the second break, and solved the conundrum first to round out his 75 to 13 win.
I did poorly on the first round, throwing away seven points that I would often have gained. Naween's full monty then made the lead commanding, and the numbers rounds ended up being somewhat too easy for me to gain anything back there. I did manage to get some back in one letters round thanks to the Scrabble-vs-Macquarie difference, and the last numbers round had just enough challenge for me to finally gain some ground there. That actually left me in contention at the conundrum, which is again better than I expected to be doing. It proved to be too difficult for me, and although Naween seemed to dawdle a little over it he still comfortably solved it and had the victory.
No mention of the original airdate this time; maybe someone caught the error. Tonight is the second quarterfinal of series one and pits second seed Naween Fernando against seventh seed Veronica Corrigan. Naween has a reputation essentially equal to that of Andrew Fisher from my perspective; I gather that they have been rivals for some time. So again I am in a position of hoping for the same things I wanted from the previous game: Challenging numbers rounds, and perhaps some overreaching on the word front. Last night I got lucky; can it happen again?
Richard introduces accountant Naween Fernando as the second seed for the finals series. Richard points out that Naween successfully retired after winning six games, and that in one particular game Naween scored three eight-letter words and two nine-letter ones. Wow! Throw in the conundrum and perfect numbers results and that would be a hundred point game.
Taking up the challenge is seventh seed Veronica Corrigan, a third year medical student. Veronica won her first game by a single point and then "went on to win convincingly over the next three nights". That sounds like she got to play five games, so the first series seems to have similar results to the fourth one on that front.
In contrast to yesterday's tight game this one was a very one-sided affair. Naween was never outpointed on the letters (and found a full monty early to take a commanding lead), and Veronica was consistently further away on the numbers. Naween had wrapped up the victory by the second break, and solved the conundrum first to round out his 75 to 13 win.
I did poorly on the first round, throwing away seven points that I would often have gained. Naween's full monty then made the lead commanding, and the numbers rounds ended up being somewhat too easy for me to gain anything back there. I did manage to get some back in one letters round thanks to the Scrabble-vs-Macquarie difference, and the last numbers round had just enough challenge for me to finally gain some ground there. That actually left me in contention at the conundrum, which is again better than I expected to be doing. It proved to be too difficult for me, and although Naween seemed to dawdle a little over it he still comfortably solved it and had the victory.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Ep 94 [QF1]: Andrew Fisher, Esther Perrins (May 10, 2012; originally aired December 9, 2010)
Rounds: Here.
The repeat screenings kick off with the very first finals episode, episode 94 of series one. That pitches some very impressive Scrabble players against each other, so it is sure to be a tough match. My impression is that the first series of Letters and Numbers was particularly heavy on the tournament Scrabble players; presumably the show solicited interested players from the various Scrabble clubs.
Prior to this point, I have seen one episode of the first series -- Andrew Fisher's impressive debut game, which I believe is still the record for highest contestant score in a single game -- and the rest starting midway through series two. This means that essentially all of the series one finalists are unknown quantities to me, although I know the reputations of Andrew and Naween. From this incomplete sample set I will say that Andrew is the one player that I do not have any confidence about beating in a reasonable percentage of games; his word knowledge is just too good. (I expect Naween to be of a similar standard, mind you, but I have not seen him in action.)
I'm pinning my hopes on two things: Tricky numbers rounds that I nevertheless navigate safely (and the contestants do not), and that the Scrabble vocabulary turns into a detriment as a good many of those obscure words turn out not to be listed in the Macquarie. If I can hang in there on enough letter rounds and everything else goes OK I might just be safe at the conundrum (which I expect to be solved by a contestant within a second or two).
A brief digression: At the start of the show it brings up an information box stating that this episode was originally telecast on November 11, 2010. I believe that this is incorrect; the show first aired on August 2, 2010, and the grand final of series one aired on December 17, 2010. That is exactly 100 weekdays, so episode 94 should have screened on December 9, 2010. The only way the claimed date of November could be correct is if they screened multiple episodes a day early on, then had a big gap for no discernible reason during the finals series. Not at all likely!
(There was a mid-series gap in series three due to the 2011 Tour de France coverage, but no such gaps in series one, two, or four. The Tour de France may well explain the timing of the insertion of this series as the intent is presumably to go straight from the end of the Masters series to the start of the Tour de France. The timing is still a bit odd unless the Masters series is nine games -- a best-of-three final? -- as there is a two day gap to cover... but presumably it will make more sense closer to time.)
OK, so onto the contestants. Richard re-introduces auditor Andrew Fisher, the number one seed, and notes that he was the second retiring champion of the show -- Richard says "carry-over champion", but he cannot mean that since Andrew did not show up until episode 15 -- and holds the record for the highest episode score of the series so far, at 95 points.
Additionally, Richard notes that Andrew was the first contestant to find a nine-letter word; Andrew is quick to point out that his opponent (Rob York) also found that same word. However, Andrew did find the second full monty later in that episode, whereas his opponent did not.
Facing Andrew as the number eight seed is keen campanologist Esther Perrins. Richard's recitation of her achievements is that she found twelve seven-letter words during her time on the show, and in fact four of them in the same episode. I... want that to be more impressive than it comes across, as I can match those statistics from my time on the show (with another four eight-letter words for good measure). There's some evidence that the letter mix -- or the mixing policy -- has been adjusted since then, though, so it is quite possible that contestants these days do actually have an easier time of it.
Richard notes that Esther's games were nail-biters, generally coming right down to the wire. Maybe tonight will be another case of that? Certainly that is what the show would like.
And indeed, it did end up coming down to the conundrum, with Andrew trailing. That was because of exactly what I hoped for -- his extensive Scrabble vocabulary worked against him, with three of his finds (excellent words all) turning out not to be listed in the Macquarie. Surprisingly, it was the numbers rounds that let him get back into contention and he managed to close the margin to 4 points on the last one. The conundrum was tough but Andrew lived up to expectations by solving it in under two seconds, and took a topsy-turvy 55 to 49 win.
Andrew's invalid words worked greatly to my favour also, and I was unexpectedly twenty points up at the first break. I thought that might be enough to ride home if I could pick up another numbers round and match a letters round, as long as there was no full monty about. And then, wham, a full monty that I just barely missed and things got very awkward indeed. I managed to get back more ground in the numbers rounds -- although a simple adjustment would have given me two more points, which could have been very important -- and Andrew's third invalid word pushed me safely clear of him. Not so over Esther, as I was only nine points ahead of her. But Andrew solved the conundrum first, and that gave me the wobbly win in the three-cornered game.
The repeat screenings kick off with the very first finals episode, episode 94 of series one. That pitches some very impressive Scrabble players against each other, so it is sure to be a tough match. My impression is that the first series of Letters and Numbers was particularly heavy on the tournament Scrabble players; presumably the show solicited interested players from the various Scrabble clubs.
Prior to this point, I have seen one episode of the first series -- Andrew Fisher's impressive debut game, which I believe is still the record for highest contestant score in a single game -- and the rest starting midway through series two. This means that essentially all of the series one finalists are unknown quantities to me, although I know the reputations of Andrew and Naween. From this incomplete sample set I will say that Andrew is the one player that I do not have any confidence about beating in a reasonable percentage of games; his word knowledge is just too good. (I expect Naween to be of a similar standard, mind you, but I have not seen him in action.)
I'm pinning my hopes on two things: Tricky numbers rounds that I nevertheless navigate safely (and the contestants do not), and that the Scrabble vocabulary turns into a detriment as a good many of those obscure words turn out not to be listed in the Macquarie. If I can hang in there on enough letter rounds and everything else goes OK I might just be safe at the conundrum (which I expect to be solved by a contestant within a second or two).
A brief digression: At the start of the show it brings up an information box stating that this episode was originally telecast on November 11, 2010. I believe that this is incorrect; the show first aired on August 2, 2010, and the grand final of series one aired on December 17, 2010. That is exactly 100 weekdays, so episode 94 should have screened on December 9, 2010. The only way the claimed date of November could be correct is if they screened multiple episodes a day early on, then had a big gap for no discernible reason during the finals series. Not at all likely!
(There was a mid-series gap in series three due to the 2011 Tour de France coverage, but no such gaps in series one, two, or four. The Tour de France may well explain the timing of the insertion of this series as the intent is presumably to go straight from the end of the Masters series to the start of the Tour de France. The timing is still a bit odd unless the Masters series is nine games -- a best-of-three final? -- as there is a two day gap to cover... but presumably it will make more sense closer to time.)
OK, so onto the contestants. Richard re-introduces auditor Andrew Fisher, the number one seed, and notes that he was the second retiring champion of the show -- Richard says "carry-over champion", but he cannot mean that since Andrew did not show up until episode 15 -- and holds the record for the highest episode score of the series so far, at 95 points.
Additionally, Richard notes that Andrew was the first contestant to find a nine-letter word; Andrew is quick to point out that his opponent (Rob York) also found that same word. However, Andrew did find the second full monty later in that episode, whereas his opponent did not.
Facing Andrew as the number eight seed is keen campanologist Esther Perrins. Richard's recitation of her achievements is that she found twelve seven-letter words during her time on the show, and in fact four of them in the same episode. I... want that to be more impressive than it comes across, as I can match those statistics from my time on the show (with another four eight-letter words for good measure). There's some evidence that the letter mix -- or the mixing policy -- has been adjusted since then, though, so it is quite possible that contestants these days do actually have an easier time of it.
Richard notes that Esther's games were nail-biters, generally coming right down to the wire. Maybe tonight will be another case of that? Certainly that is what the show would like.
And indeed, it did end up coming down to the conundrum, with Andrew trailing. That was because of exactly what I hoped for -- his extensive Scrabble vocabulary worked against him, with three of his finds (excellent words all) turning out not to be listed in the Macquarie. Surprisingly, it was the numbers rounds that let him get back into contention and he managed to close the margin to 4 points on the last one. The conundrum was tough but Andrew lived up to expectations by solving it in under two seconds, and took a topsy-turvy 55 to 49 win.
Andrew's invalid words worked greatly to my favour also, and I was unexpectedly twenty points up at the first break. I thought that might be enough to ride home if I could pick up another numbers round and match a letters round, as long as there was no full monty about. And then, wham, a full monty that I just barely missed and things got very awkward indeed. I managed to get back more ground in the numbers rounds -- although a simple adjustment would have given me two more points, which could have been very important -- and Andrew's third invalid word pushed me safely clear of him. Not so over Esther, as I was only nine points ahead of her. But Andrew solved the conundrum first, and that gave me the wobbly win in the three-cornered game.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Ep 443: Rob Fischer, Joseph Liebhaber (May 9, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
When Rob proposed, he did so at the cinema. He had a slide made up popping the question, and organised with the cinema to have it shown prior to the movie. Rob went down on one knee when the slide came up, and happily she said yes. (The movie was The World's Fastest Indian, incidentally.)
Tonight's challenger is taxi driver Joseph Liebhaber. Joseph is keen on space, although he would not want to travel there -- he thinks that doing so is more the province of robots. But he is enthusiastic about astronomy; he says that it is a field that is changing, and he finds it interesting keeping up with all the new discoveries. When he was a small boy he learned what was known about Mars and Venus; he says that "really nobody knew anything". Since that time, though, we have learned so much and keep on doing so; he finds it absolutely fascinating.
I'm afraid this game simply wasn't close; three of Joseph's letters rounds were invalid, and the numbers rounds were too easy to challenge either contestant. Rob found longer words in the other two letters rounds -- including a full monty -- and with neither solving the conundrum the final score was 75 to 30 in Rob's favour.
I was cruising along comfortably thanks to two good letters rounds at the start, but thereafter was not able to extend my lead over Rob. I missed the full monty -- I found a contentious eight instead -- and suddenly Rob was two points in the lead. That persisted until the conundrum, and he buzzed in first; fortunately for me his guess was invalid, and I managed to get the solution just in the nick of time to scrape home the victor. It really does demonstrate the power of the full monty to upset everything!
When Rob proposed, he did so at the cinema. He had a slide made up popping the question, and organised with the cinema to have it shown prior to the movie. Rob went down on one knee when the slide came up, and happily she said yes. (The movie was The World's Fastest Indian, incidentally.)
Tonight's challenger is taxi driver Joseph Liebhaber. Joseph is keen on space, although he would not want to travel there -- he thinks that doing so is more the province of robots. But he is enthusiastic about astronomy; he says that it is a field that is changing, and he finds it interesting keeping up with all the new discoveries. When he was a small boy he learned what was known about Mars and Venus; he says that "really nobody knew anything". Since that time, though, we have learned so much and keep on doing so; he finds it absolutely fascinating.
I'm afraid this game simply wasn't close; three of Joseph's letters rounds were invalid, and the numbers rounds were too easy to challenge either contestant. Rob found longer words in the other two letters rounds -- including a full monty -- and with neither solving the conundrum the final score was 75 to 30 in Rob's favour.
I was cruising along comfortably thanks to two good letters rounds at the start, but thereafter was not able to extend my lead over Rob. I missed the full monty -- I found a contentious eight instead -- and suddenly Rob was two points in the lead. That persisted until the conundrum, and he buzzed in first; fortunately for me his guess was invalid, and I managed to get the solution just in the nick of time to scrape home the victor. It really does demonstrate the power of the full monty to upset everything!
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Ep 442: Rob Fischer, Paul Bishard (May 8, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
It's the almost-obligatory fourth-night question about strategy for Rob. It really does make me wonder whether people provide the requested six interesting points of information about themselves; we seem to run out of talking points fairly quickly. On the other hand, maybe I'm just bitter because I did not last long enough to get to my Dalek impression. Anyway, back to Rob; apparently he looks for affixes on the letter rounds, and tweakage on the numbers. That's not really a surprise.
Challenging Rob tonight is wine manager Paul Bishard. Paul is principally responsible for arranging all the wines in a particular store, as well as driving the core wine sales through the outlet. He has been working with wine for seventeen years; he remarks that it has been quite fun and -- without a pun intended -- fruitful.
It proved to be a very close game tonight, and I'd have to say that Rob did not show those flashes of excellence that we have seen on previous nights. Paul got off to an early lead with a great word, and extended it in the first numbers round as Rob's weakness there was exposed. Rob hung in there, though, relentlessly clawing back the lost ground in the letters rounds where Paul was often just a letter short of where he needed to be. The final two numbers rounds proved to be far too easy and that was Paul's advantage gone -- I can certainly sympathise there. Rob took a slender one-point lead into the conundrum, but solved it first in any case to get the win, 56 to 45.
I was in much better form tonight, with only one round thwarting my optimal game aspirations. A couple of risky plays came off -- including the full monty -- and I wrapped it up with a quick solution to the conundrum and an emphatic win.
It's the almost-obligatory fourth-night question about strategy for Rob. It really does make me wonder whether people provide the requested six interesting points of information about themselves; we seem to run out of talking points fairly quickly. On the other hand, maybe I'm just bitter because I did not last long enough to get to my Dalek impression. Anyway, back to Rob; apparently he looks for affixes on the letter rounds, and tweakage on the numbers. That's not really a surprise.
Challenging Rob tonight is wine manager Paul Bishard. Paul is principally responsible for arranging all the wines in a particular store, as well as driving the core wine sales through the outlet. He has been working with wine for seventeen years; he remarks that it has been quite fun and -- without a pun intended -- fruitful.
It proved to be a very close game tonight, and I'd have to say that Rob did not show those flashes of excellence that we have seen on previous nights. Paul got off to an early lead with a great word, and extended it in the first numbers round as Rob's weakness there was exposed. Rob hung in there, though, relentlessly clawing back the lost ground in the letters rounds where Paul was often just a letter short of where he needed to be. The final two numbers rounds proved to be far too easy and that was Paul's advantage gone -- I can certainly sympathise there. Rob took a slender one-point lead into the conundrum, but solved it first in any case to get the win, 56 to 45.
I was in much better form tonight, with only one round thwarting my optimal game aspirations. A couple of risky plays came off -- including the full monty -- and I wrapped it up with a quick solution to the conundrum and an emphatic win.
Ep 441: Rob Fischer, Lara Irvine (May 7, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
It's a brand new week; Rob has two wins under his belt and is hoping to extend that run. Richard mentions that Rob loves adrenaline, and has done a few things in search of it. Rob agrees, adding that he has done a bungee jump, some whitewater rafting, and a canyon swing in New Zealand. He might have aimed to list more, but Richard asks what a canyon swing is. Rob explains that it is a bit like a bungee jump, except that you jump off the platform and swing right across the canyon. (This most probably was the Queenstown canyon swing; there is some video on that page demonstrating what it is like.)
Tonight's challenger is Lara Irvine, an office administrator and writer. She likes to write fiction but she finds that reviews and non-fiction pay a bit more. Richard segues awkwardly to her interest in knitting. Lara agrees that she does like to knit and she finds it quite relaxing. About once a month she goes to a group called "Stitch 'n' Bitch" where a few of them get together and drink coffee and sometimes they knit.
There were some good words from both players tonight, but Lara was a bit unlucky that her best word corresponded with Rob's even better one. The early numbers rounds provided no swing, and Rob was seven points ahead going into the last numbers round. Unfortunately for Lara, she was not able to get anywhere with it and Rob's seven points saw him safe going into the conundrum. It proved to be too difficult for them both, and Rob won 45 to 31.
I started out poorly and then oscillated a bit between decent and not-quite-there results. I blew the first numbers round through trying to be far too clever, and also failed to solve the last one. There's a small consolation in that it eluded Lily also, but only managing three maximums out of eight in the main rounds is still disappointing. I did solve the conundrum quickly, though, to finish on a good note.
It's a brand new week; Rob has two wins under his belt and is hoping to extend that run. Richard mentions that Rob loves adrenaline, and has done a few things in search of it. Rob agrees, adding that he has done a bungee jump, some whitewater rafting, and a canyon swing in New Zealand. He might have aimed to list more, but Richard asks what a canyon swing is. Rob explains that it is a bit like a bungee jump, except that you jump off the platform and swing right across the canyon. (This most probably was the Queenstown canyon swing; there is some video on that page demonstrating what it is like.)
Tonight's challenger is Lara Irvine, an office administrator and writer. She likes to write fiction but she finds that reviews and non-fiction pay a bit more. Richard segues awkwardly to her interest in knitting. Lara agrees that she does like to knit and she finds it quite relaxing. About once a month she goes to a group called "Stitch 'n' Bitch" where a few of them get together and drink coffee and sometimes they knit.
There were some good words from both players tonight, but Lara was a bit unlucky that her best word corresponded with Rob's even better one. The early numbers rounds provided no swing, and Rob was seven points ahead going into the last numbers round. Unfortunately for Lara, she was not able to get anywhere with it and Rob's seven points saw him safe going into the conundrum. It proved to be too difficult for them both, and Rob won 45 to 31.
I started out poorly and then oscillated a bit between decent and not-quite-there results. I blew the first numbers round through trying to be far too clever, and also failed to solve the last one. There's a small consolation in that it eluded Lily also, but only managing three maximums out of eight in the main rounds is still disappointing. I did solve the conundrum quickly, though, to finish on a good note.
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Weekly Summary: Episodes 436 to 440
Regression to the mean definitely kicked in this week, or maybe it was the deleterious effects of work. It sill included some good results, though, and prior to last week I would have been very happy with it. The high point was managing to outscore the David and Lily combination on Monday -- it is a very rare occurrence, as you might expect.
Simon managed to win his fourth game, although Jean took him all the way to the conundrum. He went on to successfully retire and moved into second position on the leader board. The week ended with Rob Fischer starting his run; we'll see next week if he can keep up those winning ways.
There were some tricky number mixes this week, but only one of them eluded Lily's eagle eye. On the letter front there was only one full monty on offer, but it was a doozy. A great spot from Rob in his first game!
The maximums don't really tell the full story here, but the overall tenor of things is correct. Three decent games to start, and then a rather sad drop towards the end. Two of the conundrums proved beyond me, but solving three was still above my average.
Contestants sorted by average score:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 73 | 66 | 76 | 58 | 70 |
| Champion | 25 | 39 | 32 | 42 | 19 |
| Challenger | 24 | 37 | 34 | 10 | 15 |
| David + Lily | 72 | 77 | 77 | 87 | 76 |
| Me (solo) | 73 | 66 | 76 | 64 | 70 |
Simon managed to win his fourth game, although Jean took him all the way to the conundrum. He went on to successfully retire and moved into second position on the leader board. The week ended with Rob Fischer starting his run; we'll see next week if he can keep up those winning ways.
| Norm Do | 67 | 62 | 58 | 61 | 59 | 62 | 369 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Walton | 65 | 47 | 49 | 47 | 45 | 55 | 308 |
| Ann Russell | 40 | 48 | 46 | 62 | 49 | 47 | 292 |
| Ben Fisher | 55 | 53 | 63 | 42 | 60 | 21 | 294 |
| Jane Taylor | 47 | 54 | 64 | 40 | 205 | ||
| Mark Potter | 41 | 51 | 51 | 40 | 183 | ||
| Ian Phillips | 57 | 59 | 49 | 165 | |||
| Margaret Zimmer | 38 | 37 | 52 | 127 |
There were some tricky number mixes this week, but only one of them eluded Lily's eagle eye. On the letter front there was only one full monty on offer, but it was a doozy. A great spot from Rob in his first game!
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Missed Full Monties | 0 | |||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
The maximums don't really tell the full story here, but the overall tenor of things is correct. Three decent games to start, and then a rather sad drop towards the end. Two of the conundrums proved beyond me, but solving three was still above my average.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximums: L | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| N | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Contestants sorted by average score:
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norm Do | 369 | 6 | 61.50 |
| Ian Phillips | 165 | 3 | 55.00 |
| Rob Fischer* | 105 | 2 | 52.50 |
| Simon Walton | 308 | 6 | 51.33 |
| Jane Taylor | 205 | 4 | 51.25 |
| Louise Broadbent | 99 | 2 | 49.50 |
| Ben Fisher | 294 | 6 | 49.00 |
| Ann Russell | 292 | 6 | 48.67 |
| Mark Potter | 183 | 4 | 45.75 |
| Diana Greenslade | 43 | 1 | 43.00 |
| Mark O'Carrigan | 43 | 1 | 43.00 |
| Margaret Zimmer | 127 | 3 | 42.67 |
| Craig Hill | 85 | 2 | 42.50 |
| Jean Watson | 42 | 1 | 42.00 |
| Steve Hibbert | 83 | 2 | 41.50 |
| Andrea Boyd | 40 | 1 | 40.00 |
| Gavin Griffith | 40 | 1 | 40.00 |
| Carey McManus | 76 | 2 | 38.00 |
| Neil Croft | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Mark Niciejewski | 37 | 1 | 37.00 |
| Steve Malcolm | 71 | 2 | 35.50 |
| James Cooper | 35 | 1 | 35.00 |
| Philip Scambler | 35 | 1 | 35.00 |
| Andrew Boyden | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Donald Piggott-McKellar | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Peter Ghalayini | 30 | 1 | 30.00 |
| Scott Morrow | 30 | 1 | 30.00 |
| Jack Maloney | 29 | 1 | 29.00 |
| Mathew Thomas | 57 | 2 | 28.50 |
| Brent Dalton | 26 | 1 | 26.00 |
| Marc Lissner | 26 | 1 | 26.00 |
| Ian Wanless | 26 | 1 | 26.00 |
| Zaid Abbas | 24 | 1 | 24.00 |
| Bonnie McAllister | 23 | 1 | 23.00 |
| Kylie Alexander | 21 | 1 | 21.00 |
| Nic Brown | 21 | 1 | 21.00 |
| Susan Morrison | 21 | 1 | 21.00 |
| Cassie Palmer | 20 | 1 | 20.00 |
| John Morris | 16 | 1 | 16.00 |
| Casey Duggan | 13 | 1 | 13.00 |
| Andrew Fischer | 10 | 1 | 10.00 |
| Vishal Gandhi | 10 | 1 | 10.00 |
| Patrick Johns | 10 | 1 | 10.00 |
| Hans Pieterse | 6 | 1 | 6.00 |
Ep 440: Rob Fischer, Nic Brown (May 4, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
Rob returns after last night's excellent game, but can he match that performance without the sibling rivalry factor? Rob enters a lot of competitions -- "when he sees them come up" -- and he has won a few here and there. He has won a trip and a camera, and some "more random" things like an esky.
Tonight's challenger is Nic Brown, who has recently graduated as a radiographer. He is also involved in a band called Skunk Stomp ("just imagine kicking Pepé le Pew", he clarifies). They play blues, rock, and funk; they call it "blockfunk".
(The web page linked above seems a bit out of date, as often happens. They have a Myspace (remember that?) page with samples of their music here, but for some reason my browser and Myspace don't get along so I have not been able to listen to them.)
Rob found some decent words without hitting the high notes, but Nic could not quite match that and Rob soon had a 26 point lead. The second numbers round reduced that to 16, and the one after could have reduced it further still. Nic made an error, however, and Rob was safe going into the conundrum. He buzzed in at the 25 second mark with an incorrect answer that should have given it away, but Nic was not able to capitalise on that. All in all, a wobbly game sees Rob home by 44 to 21.
I was well off my previous good form tonight, only managing one maximal result on the letters (on the plus side, it was a word that eluded David) and doing rather poorly on one numbers round. I was very slow to get the conundrum, but managed to do so just before Rob's incorrect attempt. It was enough for a comfortable win, but stands in stark contrast with my recent form. I hope to improve again next week.
Rob returns after last night's excellent game, but can he match that performance without the sibling rivalry factor? Rob enters a lot of competitions -- "when he sees them come up" -- and he has won a few here and there. He has won a trip and a camera, and some "more random" things like an esky.
Tonight's challenger is Nic Brown, who has recently graduated as a radiographer. He is also involved in a band called Skunk Stomp ("just imagine kicking Pepé le Pew", he clarifies). They play blues, rock, and funk; they call it "blockfunk".
(The web page linked above seems a bit out of date, as often happens. They have a Myspace (remember that?) page with samples of their music here, but for some reason my browser and Myspace don't get along so I have not been able to listen to them.)
Rob found some decent words without hitting the high notes, but Nic could not quite match that and Rob soon had a 26 point lead. The second numbers round reduced that to 16, and the one after could have reduced it further still. Nic made an error, however, and Rob was safe going into the conundrum. He buzzed in at the 25 second mark with an incorrect answer that should have given it away, but Nic was not able to capitalise on that. All in all, a wobbly game sees Rob home by 44 to 21.
I was well off my previous good form tonight, only managing one maximal result on the letters (on the plus side, it was a word that eluded David) and doing rather poorly on one numbers round. I was very slow to get the conundrum, but managed to do so just before Rob's incorrect attempt. It was enough for a comfortable win, but stands in stark contrast with my recent form. I hope to improve again next week.
Friday, 4 May 2012
Ep 439: Rob Fischer, Andrew Fischer (May 3, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
After Simon's successful retirement yesterday, we have two new contestants. The show producers were clearly hoping that this would happen, as the two contestants are brothers. We don't really get to find out anything about them aside from the fact that Rob is a marketing specialist, as what chat there is is devoted to talking up the sibling rivalry. I'm actually a bit vexed by that -- one of them is going home, so it would be nice to actually learn something about them first.
I'm afraid there was nothing close about this game; Rob comprehensively outplayed Andrew, and in fact Andrew only managed to score points once during the game; that was in a numbers round that was pretty easy. Part of this was probably first-game nerves, but Rob did play quite well, including finding an exceptional full monty. His numberwork was slightly off -- much to my relief! -- and the conundrum was too hard for everyone, but Rob stormed home to win by 61 points to 10.
I got away with a slightly risky word in the first round, was completely off the pace in the second, and thereafter was mostly playing catchup. I was just a touch too slow in round four, took a conservative view in round five, and it was only the numbers that really let me pull away enough to be safe. The conundrum was too hard for me, also, and I feel lucky to have escaped with a win. A big contrast to previous games! The effect of a full monty is large, as expected.
After Simon's successful retirement yesterday, we have two new contestants. The show producers were clearly hoping that this would happen, as the two contestants are brothers. We don't really get to find out anything about them aside from the fact that Rob is a marketing specialist, as what chat there is is devoted to talking up the sibling rivalry. I'm actually a bit vexed by that -- one of them is going home, so it would be nice to actually learn something about them first.
I'm afraid there was nothing close about this game; Rob comprehensively outplayed Andrew, and in fact Andrew only managed to score points once during the game; that was in a numbers round that was pretty easy. Part of this was probably first-game nerves, but Rob did play quite well, including finding an exceptional full monty. His numberwork was slightly off -- much to my relief! -- and the conundrum was too hard for everyone, but Rob stormed home to win by 61 points to 10.
I got away with a slightly risky word in the first round, was completely off the pace in the second, and thereafter was mostly playing catchup. I was just a touch too slow in round four, took a conservative view in round five, and it was only the numbers that really let me pull away enough to be safe. The conundrum was too hard for me, also, and I feel lucky to have escaped with a win. A big contrast to previous games! The effect of a full monty is large, as expected.
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Ep 438: Simon Walton, Andrea Boyd (May 2, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
This is Simon's sixth night, and his last until the finals regardless of the result. Richard asks about highlights, and Simon understandably mentions his must-get conundrum solution in episode 436. He was very nervous, shaking hand, etc.
The last obstacle between Simon and becoming a retiring champion is Andrea Boyd, a control systems engineer. Andrea commutes to work every week by plane, to what she describes as a very remote site in the middle of South Australia -- the Olympic Dam mining centre. She has a work house there that she uses throughout the week. Andrea is part of the team that handles the automation for the entire site, both underground and above ground. It sounds like quite the task!
It was another close game, and got off to a good start with both contestants finding the only eight-letter word in the first round. That was followed by a pair of invalid entries, as Andrea miscounted (or misdeclared) the length of her word, and Simon tried for a risky nine that did not come off -- the perils of the Scrabble-players lexicon! Andrea pulled ahead in the numbers round, only for Simon to get most of that ground back in the next round with a risky but valid eight. The next numbers round saw him manage to get closer than Andrea and gain the lead, but with the remaining rounds not providing any swing it was either player's game to win at the conundrum. Simon solved it at the nine second mark to win the game 55 to 40, and successfully retired.
I had to risk a couple of words, but they both came off. I knew I was short of best on one round, but it still took me a while after time to spot the better option. I solved the conundrum quickly, and in the end there was just that one round between me and optimal. Another good day for me!
Update: Thanks to Victor for pointing out a better word in round seven in the comments. So I was two rounds off optimal, which is better in some ways.
This is Simon's sixth night, and his last until the finals regardless of the result. Richard asks about highlights, and Simon understandably mentions his must-get conundrum solution in episode 436. He was very nervous, shaking hand, etc.
The last obstacle between Simon and becoming a retiring champion is Andrea Boyd, a control systems engineer. Andrea commutes to work every week by plane, to what she describes as a very remote site in the middle of South Australia -- the Olympic Dam mining centre. She has a work house there that she uses throughout the week. Andrea is part of the team that handles the automation for the entire site, both underground and above ground. It sounds like quite the task!
It was another close game, and got off to a good start with both contestants finding the only eight-letter word in the first round. That was followed by a pair of invalid entries, as Andrea miscounted (or misdeclared) the length of her word, and Simon tried for a risky nine that did not come off -- the perils of the Scrabble-players lexicon! Andrea pulled ahead in the numbers round, only for Simon to get most of that ground back in the next round with a risky but valid eight. The next numbers round saw him manage to get closer than Andrea and gain the lead, but with the remaining rounds not providing any swing it was either player's game to win at the conundrum. Simon solved it at the nine second mark to win the game 55 to 40, and successfully retired.
I had to risk a couple of words, but they both came off. I knew I was short of best on one round, but it still took me a while after time to spot the better option. I solved the conundrum quickly, and in the end there was just that one round between me and optimal. Another good day for me!
Update: Thanks to Victor for pointing out a better word in round seven in the comments. So I was two rounds off optimal, which is better in some ways.
Delays
Offline life caught up with me tonight, so the recap for Wednesday's episode will be delayed by a day. This may end up causing further delays, but I should get back on track during the weekend if not before. (Hopefully much sooner.)
I hope you've all been playing successfully!
I hope you've all been playing successfully!
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Ep 437: Simon Walton, Mark Niciejewski (May 1, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
On Simon's fifth night Richard asks about his preference for the balanced mix in the numbers. Simon explains that there are two reasons for this: The first is that he has practised the 75-times tables and really wants to use that practice; the second is that he has noticed that his opponents mostly prefer only one or two large numbers, so he is trying to throw them off a bit. Sound strategy!
Before the first numbers round Richard points out that Simon could guarantee having the 75 by choosing the heavyweight mix, but Simon is not swayed by that. Rightly so, since one still needs the right small numbers to multiply by and there's better odds of that with three instead of two of them. (Also, the balanced mix can always make a 75 from 50 + 25 or 100 - 25, if need be.)
Tonight's challenger is Mark Niciejewski, a serving member of the Australian Army. At his house Letters and Numbers is a family affair -- his (nearly) two-year-old daughter dances to the theme song when it comes on, and as soon as she hears Richard's voice she sits down and watches the entire episode. When Lily puts up the consonants Mark's daughter says what they are along with Lily -- I'd hope she does so with the vowels, also, but he only mentions the consonants. This is one of the reasons I really like this show; it has great potential to get the quite young interested in words and arithmetic.
Simon returned to form with the letters, finding a good eight and several sevens. Mark was not able to keep up on that front, and Simon acquired a sizeable lead. However, two surprising misses in the numbers rounds from him let Mark catch up enough to have a chance going into the conundrum. In the end it proved to be too difficult for them both and Simon won his fifth game, 45 to 37.
I rushed through my play of this game as I had a dinner engagement to get to. That may be why I did not quite feel on top of things again, but I managed to do pretty well regardless; I'm vexed at missing the best answer in round five, but aside from that only the conundrum was a stumbling block. My mini-streak of solved conundrums comes to an end at six, but it's been a good run. I was not able to get clear of Simon for a while, but those numbers slips let me forge ahead and I ended up winning by a comfortable margin.
On Simon's fifth night Richard asks about his preference for the balanced mix in the numbers. Simon explains that there are two reasons for this: The first is that he has practised the 75-times tables and really wants to use that practice; the second is that he has noticed that his opponents mostly prefer only one or two large numbers, so he is trying to throw them off a bit. Sound strategy!
Before the first numbers round Richard points out that Simon could guarantee having the 75 by choosing the heavyweight mix, but Simon is not swayed by that. Rightly so, since one still needs the right small numbers to multiply by and there's better odds of that with three instead of two of them. (Also, the balanced mix can always make a 75 from 50 + 25 or 100 - 25, if need be.)
Tonight's challenger is Mark Niciejewski, a serving member of the Australian Army. At his house Letters and Numbers is a family affair -- his (nearly) two-year-old daughter dances to the theme song when it comes on, and as soon as she hears Richard's voice she sits down and watches the entire episode. When Lily puts up the consonants Mark's daughter says what they are along with Lily -- I'd hope she does so with the vowels, also, but he only mentions the consonants. This is one of the reasons I really like this show; it has great potential to get the quite young interested in words and arithmetic.
Simon returned to form with the letters, finding a good eight and several sevens. Mark was not able to keep up on that front, and Simon acquired a sizeable lead. However, two surprising misses in the numbers rounds from him let Mark catch up enough to have a chance going into the conundrum. In the end it proved to be too difficult for them both and Simon won his fifth game, 45 to 37.
I rushed through my play of this game as I had a dinner engagement to get to. That may be why I did not quite feel on top of things again, but I managed to do pretty well regardless; I'm vexed at missing the best answer in round five, but aside from that only the conundrum was a stumbling block. My mini-streak of solved conundrums comes to an end at six, but it's been a good run. I was not able to get clear of Simon for a while, but those numbers slips let me forge ahead and I ended up winning by a comfortable margin.
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Ep 436: Simon Walton, Jean Watson (April 30, 2012)
Rounds: Here.
This is the crucial fourth night for Simon; can he get past it, and earn a probable spot in the finals? We'll find out shortly, but first we hear that when he was twelve or thirteen years old he won his year eight spelling bee. I'm guessing this was for his school rather than a larger group; it is not (ahem) spelled out. Richard asks if Simon has strategised for his appearances on the show; Simon has not done so specifically, but he does note that he has done crosswords for a long time. It was his father's parents who got him into those, and he thinks this love of crosswords has helped develop his word power. David is nodding approvingly at all of this.
Tonight's challenger is Jean Watson, a retired teacher. Jean is a keen bushwalker, and engages in walks every weekend; she says "Saturdays and Sundays... and on Wednesdays". She tries to go twice a week. Richard asks how long these walks are, and Jean admits that she is coming down to the shorter walks these days; that turns out to be twelve to fifteen kilometres. I admire her stamina! (Particularly at her age, but regardless.) She mostly walks in the hinterland behind the Gold Coast.
It was somewhat of a nervous start to the game from Simon, and he declared his first sub-seven-letter words for a while. Jean was able to outpoint him in those first two rounds, and when he made an error in the first numbers round she had a daunting 20 point lead. There was not that much scope for gain in the next few rounds, but then Jean ended up oddly far away from the target in the second numbers game. Simon seized his chance, and an eight-letter word in the last letters round saw him get within striking distance at last. The final numbers round was unchallenging and it came down to the conundrum. It turned out to need very little adjustment, and Simon buzzed in at the two second mark with the solution and a no-doubt relieving 47 to 42 win.
I did not feel as on top of things tonight as I did last week; I think I will have to put this down to being back at work again. It must take more out of me than I realise at the time. I ended up scrambling to get answers down in time, but fortunately ended up on the right side of the clock in this regard each time, and the result was actually quite a good game. I was surprised to outdo David in one round, and I solved the conundrum quickly to notch up a solo score beating the combined David and Lily pair. It was not a perfect game, but it was a good one. A hopeful sign for the week!
This is the crucial fourth night for Simon; can he get past it, and earn a probable spot in the finals? We'll find out shortly, but first we hear that when he was twelve or thirteen years old he won his year eight spelling bee. I'm guessing this was for his school rather than a larger group; it is not (ahem) spelled out. Richard asks if Simon has strategised for his appearances on the show; Simon has not done so specifically, but he does note that he has done crosswords for a long time. It was his father's parents who got him into those, and he thinks this love of crosswords has helped develop his word power. David is nodding approvingly at all of this.
Tonight's challenger is Jean Watson, a retired teacher. Jean is a keen bushwalker, and engages in walks every weekend; she says "Saturdays and Sundays... and on Wednesdays". She tries to go twice a week. Richard asks how long these walks are, and Jean admits that she is coming down to the shorter walks these days; that turns out to be twelve to fifteen kilometres. I admire her stamina! (Particularly at her age, but regardless.) She mostly walks in the hinterland behind the Gold Coast.
It was somewhat of a nervous start to the game from Simon, and he declared his first sub-seven-letter words for a while. Jean was able to outpoint him in those first two rounds, and when he made an error in the first numbers round she had a daunting 20 point lead. There was not that much scope for gain in the next few rounds, but then Jean ended up oddly far away from the target in the second numbers game. Simon seized his chance, and an eight-letter word in the last letters round saw him get within striking distance at last. The final numbers round was unchallenging and it came down to the conundrum. It turned out to need very little adjustment, and Simon buzzed in at the two second mark with the solution and a no-doubt relieving 47 to 42 win.
I did not feel as on top of things tonight as I did last week; I think I will have to put this down to being back at work again. It must take more out of me than I realise at the time. I ended up scrambling to get answers down in time, but fortunately ended up on the right side of the clock in this regard each time, and the result was actually quite a good game. I was surprised to outdo David in one round, and I solved the conundrum quickly to notch up a solo score beating the combined David and Lily pair. It was not a perfect game, but it was a good one. A hopeful sign for the week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)